Web and mobile search continue to develop as places where high-intent consumers find local businesses. This is driving a lot of call volume, especially in mobile search where the device itself is also a phone. Meanwhile, SMBs cite phone…
Last week we held a webcast on call monetization and analytics sponsored by LogMyCalls. The first half of the webcast featured BIA/Kelsey data and analysis of the market opportunity; the second half drilled down on what LogMyCalls specifically is doing…
Marchex announced two new products today, meant to further clarify attribution for successful call-based ad campaigns. Known respectively as Call DNA and Dynamic Tracking, they both work towards clearer advertising ROI, and iterative campaign optimization. This basically comes down to…
We’re seeing a rich breeding ground of startups fuel the next generation of Web services. BIA/Kelsey is recognizing local-themed startups during our upcoming Leading in Local event in Boston March 18-20. During a special startup segment on Day 2, we’re…
For many of us, the Marchex story has been a difficult one to understand. But now the fog is lifting. Today, Marchex announced it is pursuing a split into two companies. The move spins off the company's domains and clicksbusiness…
Pay for Performance is the Holy Grail in SMB advertising. SMBs only want to pay for leads that their advertising programs deliver. But moving SMBs from inclusion to performance has never been easy. Recent progress in lead quality assessment has…
Telmetrics, a call measurement provider, has released pay-per-call best practices designed to optimize the number of quality, billable calls delivered to advertisers. "With mobile it is all about being there at the time of action -- whether it is a…
Before there were Meetups, Great Courses, TakeLessons.com and online dating services, The Learning Annex held sway. Launched 30 years ago in New York City, The Learning Annex provided classes on everything under the sun, and a way to meet people.…
While pay-per-call usage is growing across all local search media channels, Telmetrics reports today that mobile advertisers and SMB programs are the real drivers of a more than three-fold growth in adoption. The call measurement solutions provider is tracking 348 percent…
Call measurement ad provider Telmetrics released its 2012 local search trends today, with a heavy focus on the role mobile is playing in local search and ad performance management. Here are Telmetrics' top four trends/predictions this year in mobile innovation:…
The Toronto-based call measurement firm Telmetrics today announced a major expansion of its business into Europe, launching its solution in 10 markets. The launch follows a six-month beta test in which Telmetrics proved out the value of its service for…
Capping off the first day of DMS ’11 and the Performance Media SuperForum was a one-on-one session with David Read, director of Pay for Performance of AT&T Advertising Solutions, and BIA/Kelsey moderator Charles Laughlin. Read talked specifically about how AT&T…
Last week I attended Opus Research's Conversational Commerce Conference (a.k.a. "C3). The focus of the discussion was mostly on social media and its impact on marketing and customer care, at both the local and national brand levels. While there is…
"Write once, read everywhere” concepts are popular ones with so many platforms to serve. Agendize is probably the king of these for listings and appointments, serving more than 66 unique platforms. Localeze and Universal Business Listings are other key players…
Today, RingRevenue announced it has raised a $4 millon Series B round led by GRP Partners and Rincon Venture Partners. This brings the company's total funding to $7.6 million since its 2007 founding. The vote of confidence was based on the…
If getting customers to pick up the phone is the first priority for SMBs, the second is vetting caller traffic to distill quality leads from noise ... and to understand the drivers behind each activity. "Bridging the online-offline gap" is…
Google announced today that it will add trackable numbers to AdWords campaigns. Known as AdWords Call Metrics, this will offer advertisers analytics on call activity such as total calls per campaign, origin, time of day and duration. The underlying technology…
ZipLocal, the U.S. independent directory publisher, has launched a new "hyper local" leads-based advertising model called Local Leads that taps into a distribution network featuring 18 properties and 80 billion monthly impressions, according to ZipLocal execs who briefed us last week.…
Tomorrow I will participate in a webinar sponsored by Search Marketing Now on the topic of "call mining" along with John Busby, VP of advertising platforms at Marchex Call Analytics. The whole idea is to take the content of calls…
As local businesses increasingly transition their advertising dollars online, they expect agencies and publishers to furnish them with simple, consolidated solutions supported by tangible, trackable ROI. MerchEngines built its white-label "relationship generation" system to enable online marketing providers to do just that for their SMB clients. In…
